Rotating The Children’s Toys

Back in February I reorganised the children’s toy shelf that we have in the family living area. I had noticed how over the last week or so, the majority of the toys were remaining untouched and the preschooler and toddler were looking for other things to play with.

I try to rotate the toys on a quarterly basis, so today’s rotation was a little over due. The main changes I made were to cater for the new interests of the children.

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Comments

I have three crates, there’s always one in the lounge, one in the family room and one being stored in a cupboard in the computer room, I switch them out every couple of months I think he would be quite happy with just the one box, it seems junk mail and tupperware are far more exciting that all the expensive toys our family have bought him!

We rotate our toys around every month – or whenever the girls ask me too and I feel they have a valid reason for wanting it LOL.

We don’t have much storage so we try to keep the amount of toys we have to a minimum and choose open ended toys that can be used in a variety of ways. Plus my kids are a tad rough with toys given half the chance and since constant supervision in this house is impossible the toys that are out all the time have to be pretty indestructible and not able to used for evil…as well as safe for a one year old who eats everything… a tall order I know.

So we have a ‘toy corner’ in the lounge room (I should photograph it and blog it one day!) which includes the wooden stove and sink, a small table and chairs and a shelf with baskets for the toys we change. We also have a cupboard where we lock away puzzles and art and craft things and other things with small pieces which the girls are allowed at any time if they ask.

I have dreams of a much more child friendly house though, with more spaces for the kids to play.

I tend to rotate toys when I think about it, not really as a regular thing. Usually when the girls rediscover something I’ll bring out a few different toys as well and then pack away some of the ones that have been in the toy box for too long. We could probably benefit from a more organised system, though. Me especially, as I am always finding toys I’d forgotten about and spending too much time “packing them away”!

Kate – I would love to see a photo of your toy corner. It sounds like it would be just what my daughter would want!

Alison – My husband complained that I had put out too many toys that had lots of pieces and would make more work packing it away! It has been ok so far though, so I will see if the toddler can resist just tipping everything on the floor.

We used to rotate toys fortnightly. But I’ve discovered with both my girls at kinder, swimming, calisthenics and out 6 days out of 7 that the toys very rarely get played with anyway.

The things they are interested in – drawing, art, craft, playdough I keep handy in the kitchen. The rest of their stuff lives in their bedroom and on rare occasions they even play with it. Mostly I keep the toys for when we have guests around or parties with lots of little kiddies.

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[…] If you feel like you have too many toys, but you don’t want to part with what you have, consider a rotational toy system. Put away half the toys for a month. After a month, put away the toys you currently have and get out the toys which were put away. You could even do this on a quarterly basis. […]

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[…] household items and “real” objects. But in the case of our number five child, since rotating the toys on his shelves, I have noticed that he has little interest in them at the moment. He is much happier […]

Nicole Avery is a Melbourne mum to five beautiful kids aged 15 to 5. Nic is slightly addicted to spreadsheets, tea, running, CrossFit and currently on a journey to improve her diet and eat clean. Read More…